How To Play Ace Jack
Ace Jack is a premium starting
hand and best played in a tight and aggressive
fashion. One of the unique characteristics of a
high and unpaired hand such as ace Jack is that
it sometimes has the ability to hold up against
few players without improving. Additionally, a
hand such as Ace Jack possesses the ability to
cause a better hand to fold. By playing Ace Jack
in a smart, tight aggressive manner, you will
see your profit margins increase with this hand
by taking advantage of the starting hand’s
characteristics and unique strengths.
Ace Jack Early Position
Thoughts
Playing Ace Jack unsuited from
early position can be quite tricky. As mentioned
before, when playing a strong hand in a tight
and aggressive manner, we are usually correct in
making a continuation bet on the flop. However,
with a hand such as Ace Jack - we can run into
problems. For starters, we will usually be
leading out - which means we will be betting
without having any information prior to making
our continuation bet. Additionally, hands such
as Ace Queen are sometimes correct in calling
our preflop raise. As a result, when we flop top
pair, we will sometimes find ourselves out
kicked. As a tight and aggressive player, I
prefer to limp from under the gun with a hand
such as Ace Jack, with the intentions to reraise
or merely call depending on who raised, where
the raise comes from and how many players are in
the hand when action gets back to me.
Ace Jack Late Position
Thoughts
When I pick up Ace Jack from
late position, I am willing to bring much more
aggression into the hand. In fact, while Ace
Jack is a strong starting hand, I am willing to
play it as if it were stronger than it truly is
(because I have the strength of position on my
side). More specifically, I am not only able to
see the board, but I am also able to see
everyone act before it is my turn. Position
equals information. I utilize my extra
information and late position to put the tough
decisions on the opposing players.
Consider the Possible Flops
and Post-flop Actions with Ace Jack
Statistically, the most likely
situation after the flop is that we flop over
cards. The odds of flopping a pair or better
(Ace or Jack) is approximately one in six. This
means that most flops will result in our having
overcards to the board. Because this is most
likely case, we want to plan for this and adjust
our plan as the flop and circumstances dictate.
Considering we are tight aggressive poker
players, we will be expected to make a
continuation bet if we are the preflop raiser.
While the flop may dictate how much we bet, it
will not change the fact that more often than
not, we will be the flop after raising preflop.
That being said, we will take
the following actions based on the following
scenarios:
Scenario 1: Ace Jack Unsuited
Under the Gun
As I stated earlier, we like
to limp when playing AJ from early position.
Additionally, there is a player in the small
blind who loves to come out firing on the flop
from the blinds. The table has a mixture of
loose and tight players and the only player we
are truly concerned with is to our immediate
left, who just folded. Action folds around to
the button, who raises to $6. The small blind
calls. We do not wish to discourage the SB from
playing. I fear if we reraise here both the
button and small blind will fold, so we call
with the intentions of outplaying on the flop.
$20 in the pot and the flop
comes out Ace, Five, Five.
Thoughts on the flop : The
board is rainbowed so there is not an immediate
threat of a flush draw. We have top pair and a
nice kicker to match. Given the way the small
blind has played, I worry if he checks. Should
he check, we will check behind and surely the
button will bet this flop and then we can see
how the small blind plays before deciding
exactly how to proceed. If the small blind fires
like he normally does, our plan is to come over
the top in an attempt to isolate, as well as to
do a “five check.” It is quite possible that one
of the players also has an ace. Should one of
those other players have an ace, we are in a
good situation, as they will pay us off. The
likelihood of either of the two players having
me "out-aced"
is minimal, as there are more possible
combinations of Ace-Ten and below than there are
Ace-Queen and above (including ace-five). If the
button had a hand like Ace King, he surely would
have likely limped preflop from the button, as
he sometimes suffers from fancy play syndrome.
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Action on the flop: As
expected, the small blind bets out $12
(two-thirds the pot). We make as we are
pondering our action, but we have already
planned to raise if he bets out. We put on our
best show and raise to $30, which is the size of
the pot. The button folds. The small blind
calls.
The pot contains $80 and we
have $164 behind. The turn is a Ten. The small
blind checks.
Turn Thoughts: Initially,
I am a bit surprised and slightly concerned by
the call and check. I review the player stats
and notes I‘ve taken on the small blind, and it
shows that while the small blind likes to fire
on the flop, he is also inclined to weaken up on
the turn and typically bets the river. That
being said, if we check behind, we have no
information and have to at the very least call a
river bet. If we had to put the small blind on a
hand range right now, the range would be a
weaker ace or a pocket pair less than aces but
greater than fives. Additionally, there is a
slight possibility that this player in fact has
a five. If he has an ace, he will pay us off
with a turn bet. If he has an under pair to the
ace, he will either fold or call. If he has a
ten or a five, he will come over the top right
here and now. He may additionally do so if he
has an ace, but would be more likely to come
along for the ride on the river, as opposed to
blowing over the top now with an ace.
We decide to bet about half
the pot and push out a $35 bet. The small blind
calls, which leads us to believe he either has a
weaker ace, a set or trips - with our confidence
going towards the weaker ace in the hand range.
The pot contains $150 and we
have $129 left behind (nearly a pot-sized bet).
As stated earlier, the small blind likes to
become less aggressive on the turn and turn it
back up on the river. Our plan going into the
river is to bet for value if he checks, and to
come over the top if he raises with the thought
that if he holds a weak ace (which is his most
likely holding) he will pay us off.
The river is a jack, and the
small blind bets $50. We pause for a moment and
raise, moving all-in. The small blind calls and
turns over Ace 9 scoring ourselves a nice ~$400
pot with our tight aggressive play.
Scenario 2 Button with Ace
Jack Suited
We are on the button holding
the Ace Jack of diamonds. The under the gun
player limps, A middle position player, who is
quite aggressive preflop, raises to 8. As stated
earlier, we want to use position to our
advantage. We re-raise
to $20. The under the gun player folds. The
initial raiser calls our bet.
The flop comes out
ten-two-queen,
giving us a gut-shot straight draw, as well as a
backdoor flush draw. The pot contains $45 and we
have $180 left behind. MP Player checks. We bet
out $35, as we do not mind action here and would
like to exercise the option of taking a free
card on the turn (but given we are in position,
we will most likely set up a semi-bluff on the
turn if our cards do not hit). Additionally, we
were the aggressor going into the flop. The
middle position player folds, showing pocket
eights and we take down the $45 pot.
As you can see, Ace Jack has
the ability to extract value by causing hands to
fold, and plays well without improving, yet
holds up well when flopping top pair. By playing
ace Jack in a tight aggressive manner, you stand
the best chance of playing optimally and turning
a profit during your online poker session.
Of course,
the best way to learn to play Ace-Jack and other
Texas Holdem hands is to play and practice. You
can play and practice Texas Holdem in any of our
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